Monday, July 27, 2009

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2009 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces arrested an assailant and destroyed weapons in operations in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said.

Two Iraqi special operations soldiers died and an assailant was wounded during an operation outside the Iraqi capital today.

During the early morning operation, the Iraqi special operations forces, along with U.S. forces advisors, were attempting to make an arrest with a court-ordered warrant for terrorism.

During a brief exchange of gunfire, two Iraqi soldiers were mortally wounded and the assailant was injured. The assailant was apprehended and later transported to a military hospital where he received treatment.

According to ground forces, the arrest will disrupt insurgent operations in the area.

In a July 25 operation, coalition forces in coordination with Iraqi security forces conducted an aerial strike on a bunker in southern Diyala province. During a combined patrol in the area, the bunker was discovered to contain a weapons cache that was booby-trapped with homemade explosives, rendering it unsafe for soldiers on the ground to destroy, military officials said.

U.S. forces coordinated two air strikes targeting the bunker, located in a remote area south of Balad Ruz, away from any population centers. No casualties were reported following the air strike.

During a separate operation July 25, Iraqi and coalition forces dismantled a bomb planted near an electrical transmission tower south of Baghdad. Explosive ordnance technicians guided a robot to each of the explosives and defused them.